The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies
‘Relaxed’ events are now common across the public Arts and Heritage sectors. Although designed with the needs of autistic children and their families in mind, they suit people with a range of access needs. Our project at The Open University asked: what would a ‘relaxed tutorial’ look like, and who m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-05-01
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| Series: | The Journal of Classics Teaching |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2058631024001004/type/journal_article |
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| author | Cora Beth Fraser Naoko Yamagata Ardle Mac Mahon |
| author_facet | Cora Beth Fraser Naoko Yamagata Ardle Mac Mahon |
| author_sort | Cora Beth Fraser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ‘Relaxed’ events are now common across the public Arts and Heritage sectors. Although designed with the needs of autistic children and their families in mind, they suit people with a range of access needs. Our project at The Open University asked: what would a ‘relaxed tutorial’ look like, and who might benefit from it? Across two years (2021–2023), tutors in the Department of Classical Studies at The Open University trialled a set of autism-friendly accessibility adjustments to live online tutorials for distance learners on a Roman History module. We found that relaxed tutorials were welcomed by students with anxiety disorders, caring responsibilities, chronic conditions and low confidence, as well as by autistic students. Since the project was concluded in 2023, relaxed tutorials have been rolled out across further Classical Studies modules at The Open University. Their principles and structure offer a new way of looking at accessibility adjustments which could be adapted to other teaching contexts and levels. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e1c54d2302904db7be0c505e788e28bc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2058-6310 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Journal of Classics Teaching |
| spelling | doaj-art-e1c54d2302904db7be0c505e788e28bc2025-08-20T02:20:05ZengCambridge University PressThe Journal of Classics Teaching2058-63102025-05-0126949810.1017/S2058631024001004The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical StudiesCora Beth Fraser0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7975-9719Naoko Yamagata1Ardle Mac Mahon2Department of Classical Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UKDepartment of Classical Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UKDepartment of Classical Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK‘Relaxed’ events are now common across the public Arts and Heritage sectors. Although designed with the needs of autistic children and their families in mind, they suit people with a range of access needs. Our project at The Open University asked: what would a ‘relaxed tutorial’ look like, and who might benefit from it? Across two years (2021–2023), tutors in the Department of Classical Studies at The Open University trialled a set of autism-friendly accessibility adjustments to live online tutorials for distance learners on a Roman History module. We found that relaxed tutorials were welcomed by students with anxiety disorders, caring responsibilities, chronic conditions and low confidence, as well as by autistic students. Since the project was concluded in 2023, relaxed tutorials have been rolled out across further Classical Studies modules at The Open University. Their principles and structure offer a new way of looking at accessibility adjustments which could be adapted to other teaching contexts and levels.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2058631024001004/type/journal_articleautismanxietyClassicsdistance learningaccessibility |
| spellingShingle | Cora Beth Fraser Naoko Yamagata Ardle Mac Mahon The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies The Journal of Classics Teaching autism anxiety Classics distance learning accessibility |
| title | The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies |
| title_full | The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies |
| title_fullStr | The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies |
| title_short | The Relaxed Tutorial Project: distance learning and anxiety in Classical Studies |
| title_sort | relaxed tutorial project distance learning and anxiety in classical studies |
| topic | autism anxiety Classics distance learning accessibility |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2058631024001004/type/journal_article |
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